**Sugarcane Bagasse and Cellulose Polymer Composites**

**Sugarcane Bagasse and Cellulose Polymer Composites**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.71497

Teboho C. Mokhena, Mokgaotsa J. Mochane, Tshwafo E. Motaung, Linda Z. Linganiso, Oriel M. Thekisoe and Sandile P. Songca Tshwafo E. Motaung, Linda Z. Linganiso, Oriel M. Thekisoe and Sandile P. Songca Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Teboho C. Mokhena, Mokgaotsa J. Mochane,

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71497

#### **Abstract**

Waste recycling has been the main topic of various scientific researches due to environmental management. Renewable agricultural sources such as pineapple leaf, sisal, jute, piassava, coir, and sugarcane bagasse are among agro waste, normally known as biomass, which is recently used for reinforcing polymeric materials. Sugarcane bagasse fiber residues has been extensively investigated and employed as a source of reinforcement of polymers. The major residue is normally burnt for energy supply in the sugar and alcohol industries and as a result, tons of ash is created. The ash contained inorganic components which are valuable for reinforcement in polymeric materials. This chapter reports on the use of sugarcane bagasse, sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) and its cellulose as reinforcing fillers for polymers.

**Keywords:** sugarcane bagasse ash, reinforcement, energy production, cellulose, sugarcane bagasse

#### **1. Introduction**

In the past few years, the high utilization of fossil fuels has led to difficulty in recovering petroleum reserves, which has enhanced environmental concerns together with energy security drawbacks [1]. These issues together with global climate change due to greenhouse gas have led researchers to consider alternative fuels based on sustainable bio resources. Agroenergy crops and plant residues are promising low-cost, sustainable biomaterials for biofuel and power generation.

First generation bioethanol has been employed mostly for vehicle fuels which resulted in lowering carbon dioxide (CO<sup>2</sup> ) in comparison to fossil fuels. On contrary, the high demand

Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

for first generation ethanol requires high feedstock production which will lead to food against fuel concerns. The second-generation biofuels becomes the favorite choice since it depends on non-food bio resources such as lignocellulosic. The lignocellulosic materials are relatively inexpensive and available in large quantities. One of the most well-known lignocellulosic materials for second-generation ethanol production is sugarcane bagasse [1, 2].

According to the available literature about 640–660 Mton of sugarcane could generate a total of 28,500 million liters of alcohol, with the aim of producing 45.4% of sugar and 54.6% of alcohol. This would apparently produce 160 Mton of sugarcane bagasse [3]. Generally sugar cane bagasse consists of cellulose (41.0–55.0 wt%), hemicellulose (20.0–27.5 wt%), lignin (18.0–26.3 wt%) and others (~7.0 wt%) attributed to inorganic materials [3–5]. Sugarcane bagasse can be employed for other applications that include extraction of all the constituents (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) [4, 5]. Furthermore the sugarcane bagasse ash could be used as raw material for obtaining new type of mortars and concretes [6]. In fact, it has also a potential to partially replace Portland cement [7].

In this chapter we cover all the aspects related to the residues and/or left overs resulting from sugar extraction process. These residues can be used for various applications especially in polymer composite. The high mechanical strength of the sugar bagasse fibers as well as its constituents such as lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose can be added to polymeric matrices to produce multifunctional composite materials. The ashes from the burning of sugar bagasse as source of energy for sugar extraction and alcohol industry can also be used for polymer reinforcement.

crop is grown in the highest latitude in the country which is in KwaZulu-Natal. India is one of the largest producers of sugar in the world and is the world's second largest producer next to Brazil of sugarcane. Its cane is normally planted throughout 3 seasons in the northwest region of the country. Previously Cuba used to be one of the largest sugar exporters in the world until

**metric ton yr−1)**

Sugarcane bagasse is a fibrous material obtained as a residue from the sugarcane after crushing to extract the juice. Its stalk is composed of two components *viz.* outer rind and inner pith [11, 12]. The rind consists of strong fibrous structure protecting the inner soft spongy structured material (pith). It contained long finer fibers arranged randomly throughout the stem bound together by lignin and hemicellulose, while the inner component contains small fibers with major part being sucrose. Chemically, sugarcane bagasse composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin [13]. The content of these constituents may vary depending on the growth region and conditions. About 40–50% of dried sugarcane bagasse is cellulose with 25–35% is hemicellulose and 17–20% lignin with some wax 0.8% and ash 2.3% [12, 13]. All these components have similar structure as the constituents of every natural lignocellulosic fibers and, the only difference is their content. In the next subsection only part of sugarcane bagasse and products that can be used as reinforcing fillers of various polymer matrices will be discussed. Moreover, carbonized sugar bagasse can be prepared by alkali treatment followed by burning in the furnace at higher temperature (>500°C) to produce ashes as shown in **Figure 1** [14]. These particles also serve as the most potential reinforcement for various polymeric materials. They appear solid

, AlO<sup>3</sup>

, MgO, and Fe<sup>2</sup>

**Average annual yield of sugarcane (metric ton ha−1)** 227

Sugarcane Bagasse and Cellulose Polymer Composites http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71497

> O3 .

it was hit by commercial trade blockage 4 decades ago [1, 8–10].

**Table 1.** Sugarcane production from different countries between 2009 and 2013 [1, 8–10].

**Country Year Average production (million** 

Brazil 2013 743.0 120.0 Mexico 2012 42.5–44.6 65.0 Colombia 2013 21.5 108.0 Argentina 2010 19.0 56.0 Cuba 2009 11.6 22.4 India 2012–2013 350.0 70.0 Thailand 2013 100.1 62.6 China 2013 125.5 – South Africa 2013 20.3 –

in nature with irregular finer shapes; and it composed mainly of SiO<sup>2</sup>

**3. Physio-chemical properties of sugar bagasse**

**3.1. Fibers**
